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And-Ones: Expansion, Greenwood, Anigbata, 2020 Draft

June 13th, 2025 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

While NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes the league will “likely” expand beyond its current 30 teams sooner or later, he said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show this week that it’s not obvious to him that it absolutely needs to happen in the short term (Twitter video link).

“The reason I say it’s not obvious is because as a global business where something like two billion people will connect with us on social media, over a billion people over the course of the year will watch some portion of the game, adding another U.S. city, it’s unclear how much growth we’ll get as a result of that,” Silver explained, noting that expanding from 30 teams to 32 would dilute the NBA’s talent pool and result in two new partners splitting up the league’s revenue.

“… Having said that,” Silver continued, “I do believe certain markets can potentially be additive to the NBA, and that’s what we’re going to look at. I think part of it is geographic. It’s a big country. Making sure we’re represented all around the country, and then over time, maybe there’s more we can do in Canada, and Mexico City is a city we’ve talked about before.”

Silver went on to say that the NBA hasn’t met with any groups from specific cities yet, but confirmed that expansion will be a real topic of discussion at the league’s Board of Governors meetings in July.

“I don’t mean to tease people with this,” Silver said. “This is the summer we’re going to look at it seriously.”

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • David Greenwood, a former UCLA star who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1979 draft behind Magic Johnson, has passed away at age 68 after battling cancer, according to Beth Harris of The Associated Press. Greenwood appeared in over 800 regular season games across 12 NBA seasons with the Bulls, Spurs, Pistons, and Nuggets, earning a spot on the All-Rookie first team in 1980 and winning a title with Detroit in 1990. He held career averages of 10.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 28.4 minutes per game.
  • Ahead of Sunday’s draft withdrawal deadline for early entrants, German forward Alec Anigbata has removed his name from consideration, reports Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). The 20-year-old has played a minor role for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany this season and will become automatically draft-eligible in 2026, Chepkevich notes.
  • If the 2020 NBA draft were held again knowing what we know now, Anthony Edwards would still be the No. 1 pick, but a pair of Tyreses – Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey – would move into the top three after initially being drafted at No. 12 and No. 21, respectively, according to HoopsHype. In HoopsHype’s 2020 re-draft, a series of late first-rounders move into the top 10, with Desmond Bane jumping from No. 30 to No. 5 while Jaden McDaniels (No. 28 to No. 6), Immanuel Quickley (No. 25 to No. 9), and Payton Pritchard (No. 26 to No. 10) also make big leaps.
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V.J. Edgecombe Making Strong Case For No. 3 Pick

June 11th, 2025 at 8:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

With the first night of the draft two weeks away, V.J. Edgecombe appears to be in good position to be selected with the third pick, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line writes in his latest Substack column (subscription required).

Sources tell Fischer that the Baylor guard impressed Sixers officials with his “work ethic, personality and interviews” during a visit to Philadelphia last week. He went to dinner with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and other team executives, and star guard Tyrese Maxey flew in to meet with Edgecombe.

Fischer states that the Sixers view Edgecombe as a strong defensive complement to Maxey in their backcourt. He also brings obvious offensive skills after scoring 15.0 points per game and shooting 34% from three-point range during his freshman season with the Bears.

Sources tell Fischer that the Philadelphia workout is believed to be the only one Edgecombe has conducted so far. He adds that some teams believe it will be Edgecombe’s only pre-draft visit, although he could change his mind as the draft gets closer.

Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, who has been linked to the Sixers in several mock drafts, is also scheduling a private workout in Philadelphia, Fischer tweets.

If Edgecombe isn’t taken at No. 3, rival teams believe the Hornets will grab him with the fourth pick or offer the selection to teams looking to move up in the draft, sources tell Fischer.

Fischer identifies the Wizards as a team to watch in a trade-up scenario for Edgecombe, noting that with picks No. 6 and 18, Washington has the assets to swing a deal with either Philadelphia or Charlotte.

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Atlantic Notes: Ujiri, Rajakovic, Raptors, Sixers’ Trio, Knicks Bigs

April 17th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The Raptors‘ front office, led by president Masai Ujiri, is determined to get the team back into championship contention, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes. In his end-of-season news conference, Ujiri expressed that he wasn’t able to enjoy Toronto’s championship in 2019 as much as he would’ve liked and that all he thinks about is getting his team back to that spot.

“[Our goal] is getting better and adding more players and building this team and growing to be a championship team,” Ujiri said. “A championship is the end goal of all of this, and when that comes, we don’t know, but we have to identify those players and build with those kinds of players.”

The Raptors took a big swing by acquiring Brandon Ingram at the deadline and giving him a multiyear extension before he played a game for the team.

“At the end of the day, you have to acquire talent,” Ujiri said. “We have to do it in a unique way in the market that we’re in and we’ve got to jump on opportunities that come our way, sometimes after we really study them.”

Ujiri’s comments this week represented a departure from the ones he made a year ago, when he expressed a willingness to embark on a multiyear rebuild, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Toronto did maximize its draft talent this year, with rookies Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Jamison Battle all stepping up and playing big roles.

“I was really happy with the way these guys played and hopefully their development comes up more and more,” Ujiri said. “Yeah, we tried to attack the odds in the lottery and see what we can do. It’s a good draft. And honestly, wherever we fall, we feel very confident. Our guys have done a lot of work all year. We’re extremely excited.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • The pressure to win has been relatively low in Toronto with the team acquiring and developing so many young players, Grange writes in another piece. But with the Raptors‘ focus shifting toward winning, head coach Darko Rajakovic is ready for the team’s next phase and has the full buy-in of his players. “He’s a really good coach. He cares about us. He really does,” RJ Barrett said. “He comes in and he challenges us every single day. And it’s nice when you know that you have somebody that cares about you — makes you want to play even harder for them. Darko’s a guy you can have conversations with about anything, and he’s very helpful. Always teaching, but he listens to us and our ideas. Yeah. So, like, that stuff is great.”
  • Sixers wing Paul George wants the team’s big three – himself, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid – to spend more time together this offseason, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I think that’s very important,” George said. “We’ve already talked about seeing each other, where we’re going to be this summer. So we’ve already had those conversations about connecting once the season’s over. I think it’s very important. I don’t think it’s healthy to go two, three months before seeing each other, regardless of if we’re checking in over the phone. It’s just different seeing each other.“
  • The Knicks might turn to two-big lineups in the playoffs against the Pistons, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns only played 47 minutes together this season, but that two-man grouping outscored opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said that despite the small sample size, he liked what he saw from that pairing.
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And-Ones: Clutch Player Award, NBA Europe, Award Picks, Oweh

April 15th, 2025 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The official candidates for Clutch Player of the Year have been revealed, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor tweets. Here’s the list of candidates that voters can select for the award, as chosen by the league’s 30 head coaches:

Curry won the award last year.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • While the NBA is trying to establish a new league in Europe, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum insists that the goal is not to replace the EuroLeague, Eurohoops relays via a Reuters interview. “Our goal is to create a commercially viable league that features high quality on -court competition and respects the rich tradition of European basketball. And we think that that will better serve fans and players on the continent,” Tatum said. He notes that there are major cities in Europe that don’t have a team where the NBA can establish roots. “There are big markets in Europe that aren’t being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren’t being serviced,” he said. London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are among the candidates that NBA Europe considers as prime targets.
  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger reveals his award picks. He has Gilgeous-Alexander atop his MVP list and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson as his Defensive Player of the Year. O’Connor, writing for Yahoo Sports, has the same duo winning those awards. They also both have Stephon Castle taking Rookie of the Year honors, Payton Pritchard atop their Sixth Man of the Year lists, and Kenny Atkinson as Coach of the Year.
  • Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 tweets. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals this past season. He played his first two seasons at Oklahoma.
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Sixers Notes: George, Maxey, Lowry, Grimes, Oubre, Drummond

April 13th, 2025 at 2:41pm CST by Luke Adams

There were sky-high expectations for the Sixers heading into this season after Paul George signed with the team as a free agent last summer, joining Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to form a big three. However, Philadelphia lost 12 of its first 14 games en route to a massively disappointing 24-58 season, as injuries decimated the roster and prevented the team from ever gaining any real momentum.

“Yeah, it was just, to be honest, one of the toughest seasons for me,” George said on Sunday, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “Just with a lot of adversity on the court, off the court and, then again, the injury stuff was some stuff that I didn’t necessarily know I had going on … which was frustrating.”

As ugly as this season was, George and Maxey indicated on Sunday that they still believe the core is capable of competing for a championship in future seasons.

“The names on the paper … it looks nice. It does,” Maxey said. “And I think we’ve seen where our peaks can be this year. There wasn’t a lot of them. But there was some stretches where we all played and we looked really good. We found the right rotations, we knew who to get the ball to, who we need to get the ball to them, everybody got shots, everybody looked good.

“So the sky’s the limit. That’s the thing that I can say. But the work has to be put in from day one, not from in the middle of the season. … Today is our last game. Whenever everybody decides to start working out again, that’s when our season for next year starts, individually and collectively. And it has to be taken serious. And I think we will take it serious and I have the ultimate faith in the organization and the guys up top and my teammates to do that.”

Here’s more on the 76ers:

  • Maxey told reporters on Sunday that he needs “about another month” before his finger injury recovery has progressed enough for him to resume basketball activities, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports.
  • Veteran point guard Kyle Lowry said after Sunday’s regular season finale that he’d like to play at least one more year in the NBA and hopes to do it with his hometown Sixers, per Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). Lowry, who turned 39 last month, is finishing up his 19th NBA season, so one more would give him an even 20.
  • Quentin Grimes, who entered Sunday’s game with 1,978 minutes played this season, logged 35 minutes in Philadelphia’s loss to Chicago to surpass the 2,000-minute threshold and meet the starter criteria. That means his qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this summer will be worth $8,741,210 instead of $6,311,825. That change is unlikely to affect how Grimes’ free agency plays out, since he’s a strong candidate to sign a lucrative multiyear contract.
  • Here’s what Sixers wing Kelly Oubre, who holds an $8.4MM player option for 2025/26, had to say about his contract situation on Sunday, according to Bodner (Twitter link): “This is a business, but at the end of the day I’m happy. And I like to finish what I start, and I don’t feel complete. So, godspeed.”
  • Big man Andre Drummond also has a player option for ’25/26 (worth $5MM) and expressed interest in remaining in Philadelphia. “My plan is to be back,” he told reporters after Sunday’s game (Twitter link via Bodner).
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Sixers Declare Tyrese Maxey Out For The Season

April 9th, 2025 at 5:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey is officially out for the rest of the season, the team announced on Wednesday in a press release.

The news isn’t a surprise considering that Philadelphia is well out of postseason contention and Maxey hasn’t played since March 3 due to a sprained tendon in a finger on his right hand. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last week that the guard wasn’t expected to play again this season.

The Sixers revealed that Maxey reinjured the finger as he was working to return to action, resulting in pain and swelling that led to the decision to shut him down. He’s expected to make a full recovery, the team added.

Maxey was also dealing with a lower back sprain last month that kept him out of action. The NBA investigated the Sixers for possible violations of the player participation policy involving him and Paul George, but no penalties have been announced.

The 24-year-old guard was expected to form a Big Three with George and Joel Embiid that would vault Philadelphia into title contention. Instead, all three players missed significant time with injuries and they’ve all been shut down as the Sixers limp toward the finish line with a 12-game losing streak.

Maxey, who was an All-Star and the league’s Most Improved Player in 2023/24, averaged a career-high 26.3 points per game this season, even though injuries limited him to 52 outings. He also contributed 3.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 37.7 minutes per night, but his shooting numbers fell to 43.7% from the field and 33.7% from three-point range as he was asked to carry the offense on many nights.

Maxey is in the first season of a five-year maximum-salary contract that he signed last summer. He earned $35.1MM this season, and his salary will rise to $46.4MM in 2028/29.

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Sixers’ Nurse: Health Of Embiid, George Crucial For Next Season

April 8th, 2025 at 8:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers‘ nightmare season is about to end, but there are no guarantees that next season will be any better or that their stars will be any healthier. Before Monday’s game at Miami, which marked Philadelphia’s 12th straight loss and its 29th in 32 games, coach Nick Nurse talked about the prospects for 2025/26, acknowledging that everything centers around the availability of Joel Embiid and Paul George, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“There’s, obviously, a good number of them that need to get taken care of, get back to health, but obviously, Joel and Paul will be the big concerns,” Nurse said. “Can they get back and get ready to go? And I guess we won’t find that out for a little while, and then you start unpacking and then you get back to thinking there’s some really, really good players there and start piecing it together and then we get ready to build out the rest of the roster around them.”

Embiid dealt with left knee issues all season long and was limited to just 19 games. Swelling in the knee delayed his season debut until November 12, and he was in an out of the lineup after that. He was eventually shut down for good on February 28 and will undergo arthroscopic surgery later this week.

Embiid remains a force when he’s healthy, having averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 30.2 minutes per game, but the Sixers will need him on the court far more often to be competitive. The extension he signed last summer gives him $179MM in guaranteed money over the next three years, with a $69MM player option for 2028/29.

The Sixers viewed George as the missing piece to a title contender when they signed him to a four-year max deal in free agency. Various injuries limited him to 41 games before he was ruled out for the rest of the season on March 17 due to adductor and knee issues.

George averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in his first season with Philadelphia, but he never reached the All-Star level he displayed during his time with the Clippers. He’s owed $51.7MM next season, $54.1MM in 2026/27 and holds a $56.6MM player option for 2027/28.

As Pompey notes, the Sixers’ injury woes didn’t end with their two veteran stars. Tyrese Maxey appeared in just 52 games and hasn’t played since March 3 due to an injured finger tendon. Rookie guard Jared McCain quickly found his way into the rotation, but was lost for the season after 23 games with a torn meniscus. Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Kyle Lowry and several others have also missed significant time due to injuries.

The results have been ugly, as the Sixers have struggled to field a competitive team since the All-Star break. Nurse used his 53rd different starting lineup of the season on Monday, Pompey notes in a separate story, consisting of Lonnie Walker, Quentin Grimes, Adem Bona, Marcus Bagley and Jared Butler. Pompey points out that Bona was the only member of that group who was on the roster before February.

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Sixers Guard Tyrese Maxey Expected To Miss Rest Of Season

April 3rd, 2025 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey is expected to be shut down for the rest of the season, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

Maxey has not played since March 3 due to finger tendon injury. He has attempted to rehab the finger, but continues to deal with discomfort and needs treatment. The team’s other stars, Joel Embiid and Paul George, have already been ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Maxey has started 52 games this season, averaging a career-high 26.3 points to go along with 6.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds per contest.

He was named the league’s Most Improved Player last season, then signed a five-year, maximum-salary contract during the summer. Maxey averaged 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 37.5 minutes per game across 70 outings (all starts) last season.

The Sixers have lost 26 of their last 30 games with six games remaining. Philadelphia, which has lost nine straight, faces Milwaukee tonight. The Sixers owe a first-round pick to Oklahoma City but will retain it if they wind up with one of the top six selections.

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Nick Nurse Reflects On Difficult Season After Sixers Officially Eliminated

March 29th, 2025 at 11:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Head coach Nick Nurse discussed the frustrations of a lost year after the Sixers were officially eliminated from postseason contention with Saturday’s loss to Miami (Twitter video link from PHLY Sixers).

“Obviously it’s not anywhere near where we had hoped it would be when we set out this summer and this fall, that’s for sure” Nurse said. “That’s the only thing you can say, it was a super struggle. You know, most of the way I think there was only a couple times of some momentum. Right? December, and there was another I think four- or five-game winning streak in there, too, where you were always holding out hope that the team was playing better and getting some wins and hopefully get some players back.”

That turnaround never came, as the Sixers were plagued by injuries to stars and role players throughout the season. Franchise cornerstone Joel Embiid was limited to 19 games before being declared out for the season in late February. Top free agent addition Paul George appeared in 41 games before he was ruled out for the season in mid-March. Tyrese Maxey was active for 52 games, but he hasn’t played since March 3 due to a sprained finger and probably won’t return this season.

Injury issues affected virtually the entire roster, as Philadelphia got just 40 games out of Andre Drummond, 39 from Eric Gordon and 33 from Kyle Lowry. Rookie guard Jared McCain was lost after 23 games due to a meniscus tear following a promising start.

Tonight marked the Sixers’ 50th different starting lineup in 74 games, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), with Justin Edwards, Guerschon Yabusele, Adem Bona, Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler opening the game.

“It just didn’t seem like the injury bug would ever leave us,” Nurse said. “It just seemed like every time we’d have a good game it would cost us a player or two for the next one. We never could build any momentum.”

The good news for the Sixers is that tonight’s defeat, combined with Brooklyn’s win, drops them a half-game behind the Nets and gives them the fifth-worst record in the league. Philadelphia’s first-round pick in this year’s draft is top-six protected and will convey to Oklahoma City if it falls outside that range.

The 23-51 Sixers have now dropped seven straight and 24 of their last 28. Five of their final eight games are against teams under .500, starting with Sunday’s home contest against Toronto.

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Atlantic Notes: Wright, Maxey, Pritchard, Raptors

March 29th, 2025 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Delon Wright had been glued to the Knicks‘ bench during his first month-and-a-half in New York after being acquired from Milwaukee in the Jericho Sims trade at February’s deadline. But with Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride both injured this week, Wright got the call from head coach Tom Thibodeau, entering the starting lineup for Friday’s game in Milwaukee.

While the Knicks were outscored by nine points during Wright’s 30 minutes on the floor, he held his own in just his second 30-minute game of the season, contributing 12 points, four assists, and three rebounds as New York registered a nine-point win. As Jared Schwartz of The New York Post writes, Thibodeau had the option of starting rookie Tyler Kolek at point guard, but opted for Wright’s experience and defensive ability over Kolek’s play-making.

“His defense you can always count on,” Thibodeau said of Wright. “That’s his strength, and he’s not afraid. He’s aggressive, and he knows how to play off people. I think he reads the game well. I think we got terrific point guard play. I was going back and forth on (who to start) and I was comfortable with both. A lot of it was based on I wasn’t quite sure who they were gonna start. Their size was a factor in it. But I was comfortable. And then you read the game like, ‘What do you need? What do you need more of?’ Both guys are really good players, they have different strengths, so you can adjust as the game goes.”

Wright, who entered the league in 2015/16, is averaging just 13.9 minutes per game in 34 outings this season and had logged only 37 total minutes in seven appearances for the Knicks before Friday. It’s his smallest role since his rookie year and he admitted this week that it’s difficult not knowing if or when he’ll play.

“It’s tough, I’m not going to lie. It’s easier said than done,” Wright said, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). “I try to tell young guys that — just stay ready, stay ready. But when you’re going through it, it’s tough. Some days are harder than others. But you got to continue to get your conditioning, continue to lift, continue to try to stay as engaged as possible.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

  • The Sixers aren’t yet shutting down injured guard Tyrese Maxey for the season, but he’ll miss at least two more games as a result of his sprained finger, head coach Nick Nurse said on Friday (story via ESPN). That means Maxey, out since March 3 due to back and finger ailments, will be unavailable on Saturday vs. Miami and Sunday vs. Toronto. Philadelphia has seven more games on its regular season scheduled after that, starting with Tuesday in New York.
  • Two years after requesting a trade out of Boston, Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is a fan favorite who appears headed for a Sixth Man of the Year award. Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston takes a closer look at why a trade never happened and how Pritchard emerged as a crucial contributor for the defending champions. The 27-year-old, who averaged just 13.4 minutes per game in 2022/23, tells Forsberg that he “didn’t see a future” for himself in Boston when he asked to be dealt, but admits, “It ended up working out.”
  • The Raptors have been one of the NBA’s least effective outside shooting teams this season, ranking 29th in three-pointers made per game (11.5) and 26th in three-point percentage (34.5%). Toronto would like to change that by surrounding Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl with more floor spacers, which is one reason why the team targeted Cole Swider for a 10-day contract. For his part, Swider hopes that 10-day deal leads to something more, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca relays. “They’ve had a great track record of having two-ways get converted to contracts and guys with contracts getting converted to bigger contracts,” he said after Friday’s win over Charlotte. “So super excited to be here. I think it could be a great opportunity.”
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